Part one of six, 96 pages, priced at $4.95, from Bonelli/Dark
Horse Comics. Script by Tiziano Sclavi with art by Angelo Srano. Translation by
Bojana Dozic. Sold at comics shops and by mail.

What do you get when you cross a hummingbird and a doorbell?

"Elementary, my dear Felix; a humdinger."

If that conjures visions of Doctor Watson, Sherlock Holmes and
very bad jokes, I have conjured well. Because all three of these are important
elements in Dylan Dog, a Supernatural sleuth whose tongue-in-cheek adventures
are a hoot, man.

Dylan and his sidekick, Felix, are loosely based on Holmes and
Groucho Marx. Their adventures are loosely based on old Hammer horror flicks.

Loosely is a keyword. The other important words about Dylan are
"well drawn, well written" and "fun".

This first jaunt leads the team to that ultimate Supernatural
horror spelled backwards, Notnilc. Oops, I meant Natas. I often get the too
confused.

Natas is busy making zombies.

Regrettably, there is too much nudity, although most of it is
unerotic. Otherwise, Dylan Dog is highly recommended for adults.

24 pages, priced $2.95, story and art by Miljenco Horvatic,
translated by Vida Lapaine, sold in comic shops and by mail.

A story told is a story understood.

A story muddled is Warrior Nun Frenzy from Antarctic Press.

Granted, its art is exceptional in style and execution, but art is
capable of expressing little more than location, action, mood and the skeleton
of plot and characterization.

After the first reading, I knew little more than that two vaguely
defined groups were battling to the death over something. I knew too little
about the characters to care whether they lived, suffered or died.

I have no idea why the character Frenzy is a nun, if she really is
a "bride of Christ" or why a nun would butcher people.

True, I may have learned more on a second perusal, but no one
should have to read twice; they should want to read again.

Other articles are on Disney animation, sports in cartoons, and
the recent television commercials with Superman and Jerry Seinfeld. For $5.95,
that is a bargain. The articles and interviews are well illustrated.

I first found Hogan 's Alley in the hobbies section of a large
newsstand, days later, I found it shelved in the arts section at another
newsstand.

Let's hope it finds a wide audience.

A glossier publication is the monthly Comic Book Marketplace that
I have found only at comic bookshops. The title is a bit misleading in that
there ate many good articles on the history of comic books as well as on their
value.

Comic Book Marketplace is published by Robert Overstreet, A name
recognizable to any collector because of the annual Overstreet guide which is
the basis for any discussion of the value of comics. It also costs $5.95 per
issue.

Each magazine is different. I think serious fans will want both. (And
how many immediately recognized Hogan 's Alley as the first title of Richard
Outcault's comic strip, Yellow Kid?)

Those interested in older comics will also want the second volume
of The Golden Age of Marvel Comics. I spoke rather highly of the first volume that
must have been successful enough to justify a second compilation of material from
the 1940s.

$19.95 seems high, but much of this material has never been
reprinted. Its last story may be of most interest. It deals with Citizen V, an
obscure name until Marvel recycled it as the alias for the villainous leader of
the Thunderbolts. Other characters include the Fin, Black Marvel, and Flaming
Mask.